Improvement in machinery for making railroad-chairs



W1LLIAM VAN ANDEN, OF POUGHKEEPSIE, NEV YORK.

IMPROVEMENT` IN `MACHINERY FOR MAKING RAILROAD-CHAIRS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 5g, 155, dated September 18, 1866.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM VAN ANDEN, ot'Poughkeepsie, in the county of Dutchess and StateofNew York,h`ave invented a new and useful Machine for Making Railroad-Rail Chairs 5' and l do hereby declare that the following is a full', clear, and exact' description thereof, ret'- erencefbeing had to the accompanying drawings, making a part Voi" this specification, in which--` Figure 1, Sheet l, is a front sectional elevation of the machine, the dies being in position for receiving a` bla-nk. Fi 2 is a longitudinal section taken in avertical plane through the center ot' the machine. Figu is a top view v"of the anvil and the devices for upsetting the metal. Fig. 4 is a top view of the'cams for moving the dies, the plunger, and the discharging-hook.` Fig. `5, Sheet 2, isa front sectional elevation Aof the machine, showing the parts in a position for turning up the edges of the" blank preparator'yT to upsetting'. Fig. 6 shows the operation of the upsetting-dies. Fig. 7 shows the operation of the finishingdies. v Fig.8 is a perspective view of arailroad-chair of the form produced by my machine. A

Similar letters of `reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalgures.

The 'object ot `this invention is to produce by machinery a wrought-ni etal railroad-rail chair, of the` form hereinafter shown,"by means of dies and benders,`which shall upset the metal and throw up fromablanktwo curved lips in- .I side of a projecting base, which are adapted for receiving the rail-base, as will be hereinafter described.

To enable others skilled in the art to understand my invention, I will describe its construction and operation.

In the accompanying drawings, Arepresents the frame of the machine, which is adapted to serve as a support for the several parts which I employ to effect the bending and upsetting ot' blanks, so as to form the chairs. A is the driving-shaft, which is located near the rear end of the frame and transversely across the same. I AZ A2 arecylindrical hubs, which are keyed on the extremities of the driving-shaft A', and constructed with irregularly-curved grooves in them for vibrating two levers, BB,

the forward ends of which enter reciprocating boxes B" B', that are ,moved up .to and from eachother in a right line., as wili be herein- B2 is a cam, which is keyed after described. on the main shaft A', and which gives a vibrating movement at proper times to a lever, B3, whichlever communicates a vertical movement to a plunger-head, G, that is arranged to work over an anvil, a.

D is a cam, which is applied to the side of cam B2, for acting upon a lever, D', to thrust this lever backward once in every revolution of the main shaft A, and then to allow a spring, o', to return said lever to its former position. To the upper end of the lever D a rod, D2, is pivoted, which proceeds forward and hasa hook formed on its endnearestthe dies, as shown in Fig. 2. This rod D2 rests upon a bracket, a4, and it has an inclined plane, a2, applied to its ,lower edge,which gives a slight vibrating movement to its hooked end as it moves up to and from the dies.`

Eis a toe or cam, which is also keyed on the main shaft A, and which gives a vibrating movement to a lever, E', which latter is pivoted to a horizontal cross-head, E2, by

Vvmeans of a link or connecting-piece, b, as

shown in Figs, l, 2, 5, and 6. The cross-head E2 thus receives a vertical movement, as will be hereinafter described.

The anvil a is arranged directly beneath the head-block C in a horizontal plane, and ou each side ot' this anvil a a hole is made through the table F for the reception of the upper ends of a curved die, Gr. i

In front ofthe anvil, and at its rear, sideelevations, a3 a3, are formed forkeeping in place the blanks from which the chairs are produced. The front elevation as has a central notch through it to allow room for tongs in placing the blanks upon the anvil. The dies Gr Gr, with the anvil and the pieces of o3, form a box-- die corresponding t0 the form otI4 the base of the chair. v V

The two curved upsetting-jaws G G are pivoted together beneath the anvil a by a pin, c, which has its end bearings in the frame A, andin a face-plate of a box, G', within which the jaws G G work. The lower ends `of the jaws Gr G are connected to the cross-head FP by means oflinks and joints, as shown in Figs.

u 1, 5, and 6, so that when this cross-head is ing pieces, c c', that are arranged on the sides of the anvil a, and when the jaws are opened by the descent of the cross-head E?, as shown j in Figs. 1 and 5, the toes Z d will cause the t upper'ends of the pieces c c to project slightly above the surface ofthe anvil, for the purpose of causing the inverted T-shaped plunger c to depress the blanks in the center when this plunger descends, as shown in Fig. 5. When the upper ends of the jaws G G are caused to approach each other the pieces c c will be allowed to descend out of the way, as shown in Fig. 6.

Two finishing-dies, J J, are pivoted at their outer ends to the sliding boxes B B, and held down near their inner ends by means of antifriction rollersff, which have their bearings in pendants j" on the sides of the plunger c, as shown i-u the drawings. The upper surfaces of the dies J J are curved or scored, as shown in Figs. 5, 6, and 7, which causes these dies to rise as they are moved away from the plunger c, and to descend as they are moved up to said plunger. These die-plates are equal in width to the length of the chair when formed, and this is also the case with the upper ends of the jaws G G and the pieces c c.v The dies J J are held up against their respective rollers ff by means of springs g g, which are inserted into recesses formed in the plates to which the boxes BB are attached. These sliding plates B5 B5 have their sides or edges beveled out-v ward, and they are fitted to work in corresponding grooves formed in the table F, so

that the die-supports will be held down upon their table, and also allowed to slide freely thereon.

If desirable, the die-plates or finishing-dies J J may be made adjustable longitudinally upon their sliding supports. The pendent supports f j may also be made adjustable vertically, so as to give pro per direction to said dies, as these dies move up to and from their work. f

Having thus described the several parts of my machine, I will proceed to describe the operation of these parts and the mode of inaking chairs.

The chair'blanks, which are flat rectangular plates of the proper length and width, are vheated and placed one at a time upon the anvil a, when the jaws G G are open and the plunger raised, as shown in Fig. 1. The main shaft A being rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2, the plunger c g sans will first descend and depress the blank in the middle, so as to turn up its ends, as shown in Fig. 5.

Thus bending the plate previous to swaging it is an important operation in the making of a chair having a projecting base, for

by this means the upsetting-dies G G can take hold of the metal plate at points which are above the base of the chair. After the plate is thus bent, the plunger or former c holds the blank down firmly upon the anvil a, and the jaws of the upsetting-dies G G begin to move toward each other, allowing the pieces c c to drop down out of the way, so that the ends of said jaws will take the metal blank at its upturned ends and swage it into the form shown in Fig. 6.

The operation of the swaging-dies G G is such that they shape the plate so as to give an increased. quantity of metal through the bend of the base of the lips while being upset, and at the same time to leave a flange or base, forming upstanding lips t', and leaving a portion of the metal back for the iian ges or base h, (see Figs. 6 and 8,) the dies havinga niche or recess, y, at their lower edges to receive this metal which is left back to form the said' lianges or projecting base of the chair.

The jaws G G now recede and at the same time the finishing-dies J J approach the plunger c and crowd the lips z' z' down upon the T- head of the plunger, as shown in Fig. 7, thus finishing the chair. The movement of each finishing-die J toward theplunger c is forward and downward, soa-s to curve and depress the lip around the T-head of the plunger.

The dies J-J now recede and the plunger c is elevated, carrying with it the chair. The hooked rod D2 now moves forward beneath the chair, and the hook D3 is brought in front of the chair. This rod D2 is then drawn back with a sudden jerk, and the chair is discharged backward over the curved surface K of the frame A. (Shown in Fig. 2.) The hooked end of the rod D2 moves forward and upward, then backward and upward.

v Thus discharging` a chair at the rear of the former and anvil is a matter of great importance, for the finished chair when discharged at the front has to be moved entirely out ofA the way of the operator, who stands directly in front of the machine, before a succeeding chair can be fed in by him, and this causes loss of time, whereas if it is discharged at the rear no time is lost after the chair is raised high enough to be caught by the discharger, for the chair, when discharged, will not be in the operators way. Thus the machinec'an be worked much faster and give equal time for the operator to introduce blanks to the machine, and besides this there is no unnecces- The inverted T-shaped plunger c is of the exact shape and size of the chairs inside,

'and of a shape and size corresponding to the base of a railroad-rail.

-If desirable, the movable pieces c c may be dispensed with, and the blanks constructed with their edges slightly turned up before they are introduced into the machine. Suitable devices may be applied to shears which are used for cutting the blanks,\which will produce the blanks with their edges turned asabove described. v The blanks are prepared, and adjusted beneath the plunger e so that the grain of the metal of the chairs will be at right angles to the length thereof, thus giving great strength and toughness to the chairs thus formed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The dies G G, arranged to take hold of the meta-l plate at its edges, and constructed and operating so as to form the lip-anges and a projecting base on said plate, all substantially in the manner and on the principle herein set forth.

2. The devices c c', in combination with a plunger, for curving or slightly bending the plate of metal, the same being arranged and operating substantially as described.

3. Forming on a metal plate which has been previously curved or bent, and from Which a rail-chair is to bemade, a projecting base and anges standing at right angles, or nearly so, with the base of the plate, ready for the action of the inishing-dics, by means of swagingdies G G, in combination with an anvil, a, and a former, c, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with the anvil a 'anddies G G, ofthe elevated pieces a3 a?, so as to forma box diel conforming to the shape of the` base of a` chair-blank, substantially as :and for the purpose described.

5. The combination of the plunger or former e, sWaging-dies G G, and 'finishing-dies J J, Working in a manner and for the purpose of forming a metal chair having a continuous lip,

substantially as described. V 6. Making from a plate of metal by one machine, and by a succession of operations in the l said machine, a chair substantially as represented in Fig. S, the means for doing this being constructed and operating substantially in the manner and on the principle herein set forth.

7 Discharging a chairby means of the discharger D, passing from the rear to the front of the chair, and then drawing the chair from l the former on its backward motion, the said discharger being arranged and operated sub- WILLIAM van ANDEN.

Witnesses:

RoB'r. N. PALMER, E. Q. ELDRIDGE. 

